In an abortion documentary set to air Monday on HBO, a former Chicago obstetrician-gynecologist discusses the backlash she has faced since she began providing abortion care at a downstate clinic.

Dr. Erin King, who trained at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said she lived in Chicago from roughly 2003-10 before moving downstate because her husband changed jobs. She said she was targeted by protesters within about six months of the start of her work at the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, about 15 minutes northeast of St. Louis.

HBO

Dr. Erin King, who lived in Chicago for about eight years, stars in the HBO documentary "Abortion: Stories Women Tell."

Dr. Erin King, who lived in Chicago for about eight years, stars in the HBO documentary "Abortion: Stories Women Tell."

(HBO)

"I had been providing abortion care for three to four years in the Chicago area. I never once had any threats or protests or anything on me or my family. And within about six months of living in the St. Louis area and working at the Hope Clinic for Women providing abortion care, there were protesters at my house, in my neighborhood, handing out fliers to my neighbors in the St. Louis area with not only my name, but my address and all the addresses of the places that I work, to my neighbors and throughout the area," King told the Tribune by phone.

"So it was definitely an eye-opening experience, coming from a community in Chicago where I'm not sure that people were actively supporting abortion care, but where, in general, the provision of abortion care as part of routine medical care is accepted."

King, 41, is one of the women featured in "Abortion: Stories Women Tell," which premiered last year at the Tribeca Film Festival and is set to air 7 p.m. Monday on HBO. Missouri native Tracy Droz Tragos profiles a few Missouri women who visit the Hope Clinic to circumvent Missouri's abortion restrictions, the clinic staff who provide abortion care and activists on both sides of the divisive issue.

Despite the potential for more backlash, especially with the film making its small-screen debut, King said she felt compelled to participate in the documentary because of Droz Tragos' focus on the obstacles Missouri women face when they seek abortion care.

"We really saw it as an opportunity to help Tracy highlight how difficult it is for these women that are going through a very difficult time in their lives already, making a very difficult decision for themselves and their families," King said.

"And to highlight that because these are the patients that we see every day and these are the patient stories that we hear everyday and I think Tracy in pitching the documentary and also in how it played out, did an amazing job really showing what real people go through every single day to access safe, legal care that happens to be abortion care."